Opera as ‘Information’: The Dramaturgy of The Death of Klinghoffer

John Ginman

John Adams’ opera The Death of Klinghoffer has generally lacked the level of critical attention and approbation accorded to his earlier Nixon in China, partly perhaps because of the contentious way in which it treats its subject. The article interrogates director Peter Sellar’s provocative suggestion that live opera performance can function as ‘information’ to counteract the influence of mediatised news sources, and analyses the nature of the ‘information’ provided by The Death of Klinghoffer. It also considers the nature the work’s impact in the filmed version for television. The article argues that this opera is a highly significant work that ‘has a rare capacity to challenge…us, and to reaffirm the vital role that opera can play in our lives’.